In the construction of buildings, floors are frequently installed by supporting a deck atop a series of floor joists, which in turn are supported by an underlying foundation. The deck is usually fabricated from wood and fastened to the underlying joist by means of nails. The wooden deck may take the form of large sheets of plywood or similar material or maybe configured as a plurality of relatively narrow boards. In either instance, problems of squeaking can arise when the floor deck, for reasons of warpage, shrinkage or the like separates from the underlying joist. If this happens, the flooring "floats" above the joist and is compressed thereagainst when weight is placed on it. This compression gives a spongy feel to the floor and further more may cause squeaking particularly if the boards rub against the nail or one another. In time, repeated flexing of the deck causes further loosening of other nails and can result in still greater squeaking.
Various steps have heretofore been taken in an attempt to stop squeaking floors. The simplest approach is to drive new nails into the joist thereby fastening the squeaking board snugly thereagainst. This is impractical in situations where carpeting or tile covers the floor and is aesthetically unattractive since the exposed nail heads mar the surface of a finished floor. Furthermore, this solution does not always work, particularly if the nails is originally loosened because of a weakness or drying out in the underlying joist. In some instances, squeaks can be halted by injecting a lubricant such as graphite or talcum powder into spaces between the boards to permit them to slide without squeaking. This approach, when in works at all, cures the symptoms, but not the cause of the squeaking and does nothing to prevent a spongy floor feel or creation of new squeaks. In other instances, shims are placed between the joist and the floor to fill in the space and prevent compression of the overlying floor boards. While this approach works, it is frequently impractical insofar as access to the space between the floor and the joist is frequently limited and accordingly it is difficult to properly place the shim members.
It will be appreciated that there is a need for a means for drawing a floor deck into contact with a subjacent joist so as to eliminate squeaks and/or prevent the spongy feel associated with loose floor boards. The present invention provides such floor tightening means and furthermore is easy to use, does not mar the top surface of the floor and does not require removal of floor covering. As will be described in greater detail hereinbelow, the present invention provides a floor squeak eliminator which is affixed to the bottom surface of the floor proximate a joist and which attaches the joist and is operative to pull the floor into registry therewith.
It has previously been known to anchor items to joists; however, use of a floor joist as an anchor point for the elimination of floor squeaks has not been heretofore accomplished. U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,058 shows an anchor bolt for roof mounting of air conditioners and similar equipment, which bolt is configured to wrap around a subjacent joist to provide a base for anchoring of the equipment. This bolt however can not operate to eliminate floor squeaks and furthermore must be used in conjunction with a hole drilled through the overlying deck and hence cannot be modified to function in a manner similar to the present invention.